#london books

Hatchards, N1C. London’soldest bookshop’s little Sister. It gave me no end of cheer to see this tucked away in Kings Cross St Pancras Station, perfect for taking a break from hunting for platform 9 & ¾. This mini-Hatchards boasts all the charm of the original in Piccadilly combined with all the elegant execution of modern bookshop design. Peppered with inspirational literary quotes to put you in the mood, it’s right next door to Fortnum and Mason (their Piccadilly pals of yore,) so you can grab a title and treat yourself to some proper tea within a few strides. https://www.hatchards.co.uk/

National Theatre Bookshop, SE1. Has one of the best collections of in print drama texts anywhere in the world. All the classics and contemporary greats are covered here. Currently there is a glorious plethora of Three Penny Opera goodies going. Beyond the bundles of Brechtian bounty many unique gifts and texts are available. If you have a penchant for plays you had better give yourself decent time for browsing before the curtain comes up! The functional brutalist architecture of the National’s complex provides many hidey holes for curling up with a book and an excellent cup of the black stuff from one of their many bars. If they let you sleep there you could probably stay well over a week and never get bored. cerainly worth the surrender of an entire Saturday.  https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk

Ti Pi Tin, N16. Along Stoke Newington High Street lies an independent bookshop dedicated to artists publications. Limited edition books, indie zines, DIY mix tapes, monograms and journals galore. Ti Pi Tin is the conceptual mind of the artist realised in paper form! For the curious and progressively minded this is a treasure trove of inspirational intrigue. Swathed in regular events, thier welcoming creative community possesses particularly gnarly forward momentum. http://www.tipitin.com/

The Ship of Adventures - Hackney Pirates, E8. Yesterday I visited a rather special place on the Kingsland High Street; bookshop, gift shop café and events space of the Hackney Pirates charity whose mission is “working to develop the literacy, confidence and perseverance of young people in Hackney, so that they achieve both in school and in the world beyond.” They use wild wondrous theme-ing of The Ship of Adventures to run reading and creative writing lessons and activities for children 9 to 12 to help them attain the learning and skills to prosper in life. Much of the young people’s work is formally published and available to buy in the shop! Plenty here for grown ups too; a good selection of top tomes for readers young and old, hand made crafts by the groups based in the project and outrageously good coffee and food. With every turn of the head you notice yet another facet of the very lovingly conceived space. Whether you have children or not, expect to spend several happy hours on your visit to The Ship of Adventures.  http://www.hackneypirates.org/shipofadventures/

The Chiswick Bookshop, W4. With tremendous pleasure I get to report on another London independent bookshop that opened its doors in the last six months! A stroll out of Turnham Green tube station brings you to a delightful emporium with glorious personally picked literary titles wherever you rest your gaze. In addition to its expansive welcoming stacks the CB stocks local handmade crafts from a beguiling array of Chiswick’s best talents; cards to artwork to leather wear and organic skin products! This is an idiosyncratic experience irascibly indicative of its neighbourhood’s best outputs. As you would expect a great showing of local authors are well represented on the shelves. With a tip top calendar of regular events you’d be bonkers not to be planning your visit imminently before word gets out and the crowds swarm them. http://www.thechiswickbookshop.com/

The Bookshop North Chingford, E4. Heading into the deep North East of our fair city you can find this delightful local independent. As well as mighty fiction and engaging children sections the shop boasts a well honed niche in Mind, Body and Spirit, hosting its own dedicated MBS group twice a month. They offer an intriguing array of crystals in complement (much to this camera weilder’s delight!) A long lineage of proprietors hearkens back from the current caring hands of Jo all the way to the mid twentieth century beginning with Mr Tudor. The store has always been a bookshop throughout the changing faces of its custodians, right at the heart of its community a hop, skip and a jump from the train station. They are very prolific on Twitter and Instagram (@chingfordbooks) so make sure you check out their accounts whilst ruminating on the plan for your visit.  https://www.facebook.com/TheBookshopNorthChingford/

Daunt Books Marylebone, W1U. The original and arguably best Daunt, more than likely one of the most photographed bookshops in London with its gorgeous Edwardian galleries and modest elegant fixtures. Established in 1990 their three floors allow ample room for vast fiction and non-fiction sections. Fiercely independent, for those who have not partaken of James Daunt’s wonderful flagship shop before do check out their unique take on travel (which makes up roughly half the shelf space in true Daunt fashion.) Here the guide books are blended side by side with literature from each respective country, creating quite the dangerous browsing experience guaranteed to leave you wide eyed with wanderlust. https://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/

Joseph’s Bookstore, NW11. Up town to Golders Green for this treat. Possibly one of the most stylish bookshop façades I’ve come across on my travels greets you to a wonderfully inclusive general and Jewish interest gem. Truck loads of well selected fiction, history, politics, religion, philosophy and children’s (et al.) titles flesh out a delightful repository decorated with intriguing art pieces and artefacts of both the contemporary and antique variety. Joseph’s has been intrepidly leading the way in writer events since throwing their doors open in 1995, keeping the debate lively and open to all. Their adjoining literary ‘Café Also’ makes the perfect venue for its talks and dishes out fine dining vegetarian and pescatarian cuisine. (You need to try their de-constructed bread and butter pudding, it’s mind blowing!) The lethal combination of good food, good coffee and great books make it very, very hard to leave. Perfect for an indulgent Sunday expedition out away from central. Expect your peregrinations to be richly rewarded.  http://www.josephsbookstore.com/ 

Ink @ 84, N5. Islington’s impeccable Ink @ 84 is relatively new on the scene having thrown its doors open for the first time towards the end of last year. Conceived with enviable smartness by artist Tessa and author Betsy the result is a warm airy bright space, thoroughly inviting and very hard to leave. They have a bar and open late through the week making them an enticing post work prospect.  The stacks are filled with many hand picked contemporary titles that you won’t find elsewhere providing a heady mix of local authors, obscure publishers’ gems and this year’s must reads. I’m equally pleased to report that their coffee is just legit as the lit. Frankly I fell in love with this one and I suspect if you pop along it may well become your next bookshop crush too. For full details of their diverse upcoming events check out  http://www.ink84bookshop.co.uk/

Beckenham Bookshop, BR3. Here we have a marvellous independent that’s been thriving on the heart of its high street since 1974. A new titles generalist, they boast a considerably well picked and well stocked children’s section. The BB’s lightening quick ordering service keeps their local regulars very happy whilst the casual visitor will find the shop gushing with delightful staff recommendations; you’ll never be in danger of missing out on a new title to tickle your reading fancies here. More than worth your while to seek out this community gem. http://www.beckenhambooks.com/

Sotherans of Sackville, W1S has existed as a booksellers in roughly the same area of London since 1851 when the late great expansionist of the family enterprise Henry Sotheran first staked his claim to central. In the 165 years since it has grown to become a premier destination bookshop for antiquarian titles based in no small part to its established practice of buying whole libraries (most notably those of Charles Dickens and Sir Isaac Newton!) The staff team take tremendous pride in their shop and offer excellent customer service and an overwhelmingly joyous verbal history of this stunning current shop and all its previous incarnations at neighbouring addresses. They were keen for me to stress that antiquarian books do not necessarily mean expensive and they offer collections ranging from bargain to one of a kind. Certainly the vast two floor experience of Sotheran’s is itself one of a kind and I would whole heartedly and rapidly recommend it. http://www.sotherans.co.uk/

Bryars & Bryars, WC2N. Back to Cecil Court and the infinitely charming B&B. This antiquarian map and early edition specialist has blown my mind with their selection of rarities; earliest sea chart of the Americas? Check. London wartime tube map posters? Sure thing. First edition of Lord of the Rings? You better believe it. The Bryars (Tim and Pinda,) are gushing with knowledge and will give you a tremendously warm welcome. Tim has previously shared his cartographical expertise on the BBC and is is currently collaborating for a very special exhibition of the history of 20th century Maps for the British Library opening October 2016. With items for all pockets/wallets you would be woefully remiss to deny yourself a outing to this very fascinating corner at the heart of Charing Cross. http://bryarsandbryars.co.uk/

Libreria, EI. A new take on the concept of the bookshop by Second Home seeks to re-immerse us in the analogue experience and reconnect us with reading. Banished are mobile phones and coffees, instead we have contemporary lighting and architecture solutions which open up and warm the space. the sectioning too is unconventional with titles distributed by theme or concept rather than genre. I can appreciate what they are doing here; the overall effect is the shop feels like a lavish home library, welcoming and personal. The idiosyncratic sectioning encourages browsing and increases the likelihood of you coming across new titles beyond your normal tastes. The jury is out for me as to whether I prefer it to traditional bookshops but I enjoyed having my attitude to books challenged and it will be fascinating to see whether it catches on and does indeed precipitate a new style of bookshop. If you are a book lover (or perhaps more relevantly if you were a book lover but struggle to make time in the 21st century for reading,) go to Libreria. It will provoke you. http://libreria.io/

Burley Fisher Books, E8. Delighted to see another NEW bookshop open in the city. The BF guys get it; they have successfully fused everything I love about traditional bookshops with a modern space (and particularly triumphant coffee…) Theirs is truly great taste in contemporary fiction (check out their blog,) and I thoroughly recommend you go in and chat them up for the skinny on what you need to be reading next. Modern and classics selections are equally well rounded out with hand picked stacks. Make a date for this one pronto! http://www.burleyfisherbooks.com/

Halcyon Books, SE13. This new (opened 27th February,) branch of Halcyon has asserted itself in a timely fashion in Lewisham. A very welcome sequel to their impeccable Greenwich shop. Now they have the space to do quite exceptional coffee. Combined with their usual rigourous taste in delivering a terrific second hand literary selection and you have the perfect afternoon destination. http://halcyonbooks.co.uk/

Heywood Hill Books, W1J. On Curzon street behind a modest front lies a bookish vault of delight fast approaching its 80th birthday; Heywood Hill specialises in antiquarian, modern second hand and contemporary titles, which means they can pretty well lay their hands on anything for you. Beyond the bespoke ordering service the actual shop is a massive wonderful period destination with oodles of titles right the way through from contemporary literature, to a very well rounded out children’s section, to vintage fashion texts. Pleasingly it was nice and busy when I visited with a strong local interest. One could easily lose an afternoon or three in here. http://www.heywoodhill.com/

Maggs Bros. Ltd. W1J. A very pleasingly voluminous antiquarian specialist right in the heart of Mayfair. A bamboozling array of titles combined with a dedicated team of no less than 20 make them a very serious prospect when it comes to sourcing unique private requests. Autographs to Japanese photography; it’s all covered here. Suddenly that fantasy personal library seems a step closer. https://www.maggs.com/

The Fold, SE15. I’m heavily biased but I’ve always thought South London has the best bookshops and now it has the official smallest; secreted within Peckham’s Holdron’s Arcade this lovely little gem lies replete with vintage titles. Their book club is soon meeting on the 3rd of March to discuss Wyndham’s Day of the Triffids. Why not pop along to join them? http://www.thefoldpeckham.com/

Book & Comic Exchange, W11. This has to be one of the most eye catching shops I’ve gone into since I’ve been doing this. It’s literally 50/50 books and comics which adds to the visual punch to begin with (something quite appeals about vintage copies of Shakespeare being under the same roof as rare X-Men editions,) but those section demarcates! All hand drawn in exquisite detail and they’re all over every last bit of the gaff. This place has personality and charm in spades! If you love trawling over oodles of second hand titles as much as me you could easily lose days in here. http://www.mgeshops.com/book-comic-exchange.html

Treadwell’s, WC1E. On to an emporium of esoteric erudition; Treadwell’s has advanced the experience of shopping to something truly inclusive and 21st century. This is a very well put together journey through the full spectrum of the spiritual with plenty to cater for the sceptical as much as the scholar. A strong emphasis on history does it credit whilst the shop mascot Lady Luck and the ‘Browser’s Sofa’ add to the fun. http://www.treadwells-london.com/